7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Not terrible, but it will leave you wishing you had gotten something better.
Date of Review: Aug 11, 2008
The Bottom Line: The LG just doesn't have any notable strengths other than its decent contrast and fast performance -- but in reality, you can get those things and much more from competitors.
[Note: the following review also applies to the Flatron 24" W2452V, since we tested both the same day.]
We got a group of LG Flatrons to test at the office today. After giving it a battery of tests and calibrations [in Windows and Mac OS X,] we've come to the conclusion the LG Flatron 22" will certainly work if you're a gamer who only cares about latency, as all other functions of it are rather unimpressive.
The construction of the base, stand, and casing feel incredibly flimsy with an over abundance of cheap, glossy black plastic. [Electronics manufacturers have to realize sooner or later that giving cheap plastics a glossy finish will not make it look more expensive -- it will just make it appear even cheaper and fragile. Glossy surfaces should be sturdy with substance, and reflect like car paint or glass.] The kind of plastic used in the construction is the kind that seems to always have a static charge on it. Dust, hair, [especially pet fur,] will cling all over the casing. Wiping it off with a dustcloth [which LG does not include] actually scratches the casing making it look worse. The internal metal structure is made of pretty standard aluminum sheet cut-outs, so they add some sturdiness, but just.
The overall stability of the monitor is questionable. After screwing on the base and standing it up on the desk, just touching the power button was enough to make it wobble for several seconds. The stand is by no means stable -- a screen shouldn't wobble like that. To make matters worse, the LG has no VESA mount and the stand is irremovable -- so you're stuck with a wobbly, non-rotatable, 15-degree-max tilting screen. If it had a VESA mount, the stand could at least have been forgotten in favor of something better.
As for the actual screen itself, it's not all bad here. The latency is respectable. We tested an HD movie and played Half-Life 2 on it to really get a close look at its ghosting -- and we have to admit it really didn't exist. It's brightness was absolutely blinding at 100% [factory default.] Turning it down to 70% was far more sane. The black level was commendable, about on-par with most monitors these days. Against the brightness of the whites, the contrast really was quite nice -- but it comes at a price. The color rendering on this screen is downright awful. The color is obviously geared toward media-loving folk who want bright punchy colors that don't at all reflect realistic conditions. Oranges and blues we found to be especially "Neon" colored. They stood out far more than any other hue. The entire picture has a permanent cold temperature, as well. At the 6500K preset, the color was remarkably cold -- reds and grays especially had a notable blue tinge that we just couldn't get rid of. We hooked up our Color Elite X-Rite to the screens and attempted to calibrate them to a pantone standard. While the calibration made some improvement to remove the cold color temperature, the overall color processing of the monitor wasn't good enough to display the corrected colors. Small horizontal dithering bands appeared in gradients and subtle shades. The bands were distracting as they were disappointing. We also tested a 20% Gray to White gradient and the posterization was painfully obvious on the LG. The LG took maybe 15 to 20 full steps to turn to white. When we compared the same calibration on a LaCie monitor, the color rendition was flawless and the bands were non existent. The LaCie displayed the gradient with a flawless transition from gray to white, the difference was rather intense.
Overall, if you're a gamer that wants a monitor with fast performance and punchy colors, it would actually still be hard to recommend this monitor due to its lack of features most other screens in its class contain -- like better color rendition, a sturdier base and construction, VESA, etc. The LG just doesn't have any notable strengths other than its blinding brightness and fast performance -- but seriously, you can get this and more from competitors.
